People would bring over their most treasured photographs, put them on the copy stand, and I would take a photograph of the pictures. They would then get to bring the photographs back home with them, and a week later, I would send them a copy of what I had taken pictures of. It was a win-win situation, they got copies of their most treasured pictures, and I got negatives depicting the community's heritage. The whole project was well-received, and I made sure each photograph that I took was numbered and matched with numbered notes identifying what the picture showed and who was in it ( to the best recollection of the person who had brought it in.)
A 1970's notice in the newspaper of the effort to make copies of old photographs
Those pictures were shared with the St. Tammany Historical Society archives, and many were published in the newspaper if they were of sufficient general interest. I even put together a slide presentation and gave talks to a number of civic organizations showing the most interesting photographs.
Now I am sharing them over the internet on the TammanyFamily.com website, and particularly the http://tammanyfamily.blogspot.com website. Back when I was making the photographic copies, nobody even knew about the internet, and now it has become one of the most powerful community history sharing and genealogy researching tools in the world.
I also traveled around the parish with a slide show of aerial photographs. People always enjoy seeing aerial pictures of the streets they frequent, especially if they can see their houses in the photo somewhere.
To see a few of the old photographs, CLICK HERE
To see a few of the aerial photographs, CLICK HERE.
